EP4286171A1 - Verfahren zum bilden eines lackbeschichteten bildes - Google Patents

Verfahren zum bilden eines lackbeschichteten bildes Download PDF

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Publication number
EP4286171A1
EP4286171A1 EP22176898.9A EP22176898A EP4286171A1 EP 4286171 A1 EP4286171 A1 EP 4286171A1 EP 22176898 A EP22176898 A EP 22176898A EP 4286171 A1 EP4286171 A1 EP 4286171A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
image
varnish
primer
substrate
fixation
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP22176898.9A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Luc Van Keulen
Jeroen A. SCHELL
Daniël H. Turkenburg
Guido G. Willems
Nicolaas T.A. VAN RENS
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Canon Production Printing Holding BV
Original Assignee
Canon Production Printing Holding BV
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Canon Production Printing Holding BV filed Critical Canon Production Printing Holding BV
Priority to EP22176898.9A priority Critical patent/EP4286171A1/de
Priority to US18/202,045 priority patent/US20230391124A1/en
Publication of EP4286171A1 publication Critical patent/EP4286171A1/de
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M5/00—Duplicating or marking methods; Sheet materials for use therein
    • B41M5/0011—Pre-treatment or treatment during printing of the recording material, e.g. heating, irradiating
    • B41M5/0017—Application of ink-fixing material, e.g. mordant, precipitating agent, on the substrate prior to printing, e.g. by ink-jet printing, coating or spraying
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M7/00—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M7/00—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock
    • B41M7/0018—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock using ink-fixing material, e.g. mordant, precipitating agent, after printing, e.g. by ink-jet printing, coating or spraying
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M7/00—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock
    • B41M7/009—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock using thermal means, e.g. infrared radiation, heat
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41M—PRINTING, DUPLICATING, MARKING, OR COPYING PROCESSES; COLOUR PRINTING
    • B41M7/00—After-treatment of prints, e.g. heating, irradiating, setting of the ink, protection of the printed stock
    • B41M7/02—Dusting, e.g. with an anti-offset powder for obtaining raised printing such as by thermogravure ; Varnishing

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a printing method comprising the steps of:
  • WO 2021201873 A1 discloses a method of this type, wherein the intermediate layer is a primer layer applied directly on the surface of the substrate.
  • the main purpose of overcoating the printed image with a varnish layer is to improve the gloss of the image.
  • US 2021252895 A1 proposes to provide a barrier layer between the image layer and the varnish layer.
  • the method according to the invention comprises a step of image-wise gloss control by locally varying at least one of a fixation parameter and a primer application parameter.
  • a degradation of the gloss of the image may be due to a migration of ions from the marking material and/or the primer into the varnish.
  • the varnish is anionically stabilized, a high gloss is obtained because the anions in the varnish keep the varnish in a fluid state for a time period that is long enough for the varnish to form a smooth surface.
  • the marking material includes cations, these cations may migrate into the varnish and may cause a premature destabilization of the varnish, so that the flow of the varnish is compromised before a smooth surface has been formed.
  • the dependency of the glossiness of the image on the concentration of ions that are available for destabilizing the varnish is used for achieving an image-wise gloss control, so that, for example portions of an image that depict glossy surfaces can be rendered with a high gloss, whereas image areas that depict objects that have a surface texture that causes them to appear matt can be rendered with a predefined degree of mattness (spot matte).
  • the local concentration of ions can be controlled by adjusting a fixation parameter such that a larger number of ions are absorbed into the interior of the substrate before the varnish is applied, or by reducing the amount or coverage of primer that is applied before the step of image formation. In the extreme, the amount of primer may be reduced to zero, so that no primer is applied at all. Conversely, the amount of glossiness can be reduced by adjusting a fixation parameter such that less ions are absorbed or by increasing the primer coverage or else by forming an intermediate primer layer after the image has been formed and before the varnish is applied. In the latter case, the primer in the intermediate layer will provide additional ions that help to destabilize the varnish.
  • a fixation treatment to be applied after the step of image formation may be configured to temporarily create a layer of liquid solvent on the surface of the image. Then the solvent will cause ions that could destabilize the varnish to migrate from the marking material into the solvent. At least a part of the solvent with the ions dissolved therein will be absorbed into the substrate. In this way, the concentration of ions in the marking material can be reduced before the varnish is applied.
  • the varnish may be a water-based varnish
  • the solvent film in which the ions from the marking material are to be dissolved may be a thin water film that is applied for example by means of a fixation treatment with super-heated steam (SHS).
  • SHS super-heated steam
  • a pre-treatment liquid e.g. a primer
  • the pre-treatment liquid may for example include Mg ++ cations or other divalent cations which help to destabilize the marking material that is applied for example in the form of a liquid ink.
  • Mg ++ cations or other divalent cations which help to destabilize the marking material that is applied for example in the form of a liquid ink.
  • a primer may have the undesired side-effect that cations that have migrated from the primer into the ink remain in the ink and may then migrate further into the varnish where they cause an undesired destabilization of the varnish.
  • this side-effect can be suppressed by absorbing the residual ions into the substrate before the varnish is applied.
  • the choice of useable primers and the admissible contents of cations in the primer can be increased without compromising the gloss of the image.
  • the layer of varnish may be applied by means of an anilox roller.
  • the absorption of at least a part of the ions into the substrate will also reduce the contamination of the anilox roller due to destabilized varnish.
  • the varnish may be applied by means of ink jet nozzles.
  • an image-wise gloss control may be achieved without image-wise control of the amount of varnish to be applied.
  • This has the advantage that a uniform layer of varnish can be used for improving the robustness of the image.
  • the invention also provides additional freedom of choice for complying with specific limitations as to the properties of the printed images such as limitations that have to be observed for food compliant materials (FCM), for example.
  • the printing system shown in Fig. 1 comprises a conveyer 10 that constitutes a transport path 12 for sheet-like print substrates 14.
  • a first primer application unit 16 an ink jet print engine 18, a second primer application unit 20, a fixation unit 22 and a varnish applicator 24 are disposed in that order in transport direction along the transport path 12.
  • the primer application units 16 and 20 are for example constituted by ink jet print heads and are configured for applying layers of a liquid primer image-wise onto the substrate 14.
  • image-wise means that the amount of primer coverage may be different for different image areas.
  • the primer may be any known and commercially available primer that is suitable as a pre-processing liquid for printing.
  • the primer includes one or more salts that contain divalent cations such as Mg ++ .
  • the print engine 18 comprises a multi-color ink jet print head assembly suitable for forming a printed image on the surface of the substrate 14 or rather on the surface of the first primer layer by jetting droplets of ink onto the substrate.
  • the inks of different colors may for example be water-based inks each comprising a dispersion of color pigments.
  • cations from the primer layer may dissolve into the ink and cause a desired destabilization of the ink, which reduces the fluidity or mobility of the ink and thereby suppresses a bleeding of ink of one color into a neighboring area of the image carrying ink of a different color.
  • the second primer application unit 20 may optionally be used for locally applying a layer of a transparent primer on the surface of the printed image so as to increase the concentration of cations if a particularly dull surface is desired for the respective part of the image.
  • the fixation unit 22 comprises a hot gas nozzle array 22a on an upstream side, (optionally) a cold gas nozzle array 22b, and an SHS nozzle array 22c on the downstream side.
  • the hot gas nozzle array 22a is configured to blow a stream of hot gases against the surface of the substrates 14 in order to cure the liquid ink and thereby to fix the printed images.
  • the hot gases may comprise hot air with a temperature of 120°C at a pressure of 20.4 hPa.
  • the cold gas nozzle array 22b is configured to blow a stream of cold gases against the surface of the substrates 14 in order to cool the substrates.
  • the SHS nozzle array 22c is configured to blow a stream of super-heated steam (SHS) against the substrates.
  • SHS super-heated steam
  • the super-heated steam (water vapor) may have a temperature of 120°C, a pressure of 0.4 hPa and an oxygen content of 13 %.
  • the fixation unit may be configured to vary the ratio of hot air and steam that are jetted-out onto the substrates.
  • the fixation unit may be configured to uniformly apply the stream of super-heated steam onto the entire surface of the substrate.
  • the SHS nozzle unit may comprise an array of controllable nozzles by which the treatment conditions (exposure time and/or flow rate of SHS) can be varied locally, so that different parts of the printed image are subjected to different treatments.
  • the super-heated steam When the stream of super-heated steam impinges on the surface of the substrates 14 which have a lower temperature after having left the cold gas nozzle array 22b, the super-heated steam will condense on the surface of the substrate and will thus form a thin film of liquid water with a thickness of e.g. 4 ⁇ m on the surface of the printed image. Simultaneously, the substrate 14 will be heated to an elevated temperature.
  • the water contained in the liquid ink as well as the water that has been applied by the fixation unit 22 will evaporate, so that the ink is cured and the image is fixed on the substrate.
  • cations from the primer liquid that have migrated into the ink may migrate further into the film of water. In other words, an excessive amount of salt that may be present in or on the ink layer will be dissolved into the water film.
  • the varnish applicator 24 comprises an anilox roller that is configured to apply a film of an anionically stabilized water-based varnish onto the surface of the cured image. Since the cations that have remained on the surface of the image tend to migrate into the varnish and to destabilize the varnish, the fluidity and mobility of the liquid varnish will be reduced to some extent, which diminishes the capability of the varnish to form a uniform surface layer before the varnish is set. As a consequence, the gloss of the image will be somewhat reduced due to the premature destabilization of the varnish.
  • the degradation of the gloss of the printed image can be kept within predefined limits, even if the primer that has been applied by the applicator unit 16 had a high concentration of Mg salts in order to suppress inter-color bleeding and improve the quality of the printed color image. In this way, it is possible to obtain printed images which have both, a high image quality and a high gloss.
  • Fig. 2 is a sectional view a portion of one of the substrates 14 in the state in which it leaves the fixation unit 22.
  • a primer layer P and an ink layer I have been formed by means of the first primer application unit 16 and the print engine 18, respectively, and the super-heated steam that has been applied in the fixation treatment has caused the temporary formation of a layer of solvent S (water) on the ink layer.
  • Part of the solvent with the ions dissolved therein will be absorbed into the substrate 14 and another part of the solvent will evaporate, as has been symbolized by "wavy" arrows.
  • a layer of varnish V to be applied later has been indicated in dotted lines.
  • Fig. 3 shows three curves 30, 32 and 34 which show the glossiness of the printed images as a function of the primer coverage (in the first primer layer applied directly on the surface of the substrate) for three different settings of the print process in which the ink coverage was 100 % (curve 30), 20 % (curve 32), and 0 % (curve 34), respectively.
  • Fig. 4 shows three curves 36, 38 and 40 which show the reduction in glossiness as a function of a fixation treatment parameter that specifies the percentage of exposure time to super-heated steam (SHS) relative to the total fixation time (e.g. if total fixation time is 3 s., at 25% SHS treatment, SHS was applied for 0.75 s and hot air impingement for 2.25 s).
  • the curve 36 relates to a case where the primer coverage was 3 g/m 2
  • the curves 38 and 40 relate to cases where the primer coverage was 2 g/m 2 , and 1 g/m 2 , respectively.
  • the second primer application unit 20 may be used in order to locally reduce the glossiness of the image.
  • the measures of decreasing the primer coverage in the first primer layer and/or increasing the amount of hot steam in the fixation treatment on the one hand and the measure of forming a second prior layer on the surface of the printed image have opposite effects, it is possible to use these measures in combination in order to achieve certain special effects.
  • a particularly dull surface is desired for certain image areas, it is possible to combine the three measures of increasing the primer coverage in the first primer layer, reducing the amount of hot steam in the fixation treatment and applying a second primer layer.
  • Fig. 5 shows a simple example of an image that has been printed using the method according to the invention.
  • the image shown in Fig. 5 depicts a mirror 42 that has a reflective surface 44 and a wooden frame 46.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Toxicology (AREA)
  • Ink Jet (AREA)
  • Application Of Or Painting With Fluid Materials (AREA)
EP22176898.9A 2022-06-02 2022-06-02 Verfahren zum bilden eines lackbeschichteten bildes Pending EP4286171A1 (de)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP22176898.9A EP4286171A1 (de) 2022-06-02 2022-06-02 Verfahren zum bilden eines lackbeschichteten bildes
US18/202,045 US20230391124A1 (en) 2022-06-02 2023-05-25 Method of forming a varnish-coated image

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP22176898.9A EP4286171A1 (de) 2022-06-02 2022-06-02 Verfahren zum bilden eines lackbeschichteten bildes

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP4286171A1 true EP4286171A1 (de) 2023-12-06

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US (1) US20230391124A1 (de)
EP (1) EP4286171A1 (de)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2774765A1 (de) * 2013-03-08 2014-09-10 Seiko Epson Corporation Aufzeichnungsvorrichtung und Aufzeichnungsverfahren
EP3415334A1 (de) * 2016-02-12 2018-12-19 Kao Corporation Tintenstrahlaufzeichnungsverfahren
US20200216703A1 (en) * 2017-09-29 2020-07-09 Fujifilm Corporation Image forming method and ink set
US20210252895A1 (en) 2020-02-19 2021-08-19 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Ag Printing method with transfer of a barrier layer for producing high gloss printed products
WO2021201873A1 (en) 2020-04-02 2021-10-07 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Method of printing

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2774765A1 (de) * 2013-03-08 2014-09-10 Seiko Epson Corporation Aufzeichnungsvorrichtung und Aufzeichnungsverfahren
EP3415334A1 (de) * 2016-02-12 2018-12-19 Kao Corporation Tintenstrahlaufzeichnungsverfahren
US20200216703A1 (en) * 2017-09-29 2020-07-09 Fujifilm Corporation Image forming method and ink set
US20210252895A1 (en) 2020-02-19 2021-08-19 Heidelberger Druckmaschinen Ag Printing method with transfer of a barrier layer for producing high gloss printed products
WO2021201873A1 (en) 2020-04-02 2021-10-07 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Method of printing

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Publication number Publication date
US20230391124A1 (en) 2023-12-07

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